Date   : Tue, 16 Jan 1990 11:53:09 EST
From   : SAGE@LL.LL.MIT.EDU
Subject: Z-System compatible communications software

Ian Justman asked (a while ago -- sorry it has taken me so long to get
around to writing a reply):

>> Does anyone know of a Z-System compatible communications package?

I'm not quite sure what is meant by this question.  There are no comm
programs that know about named directories, and so far none is able to use
the TCAP to configure the terminal codes, though I think it would be
possible to write a MEX or IMP overlay that would read the TCAP and hot-
patch the codes into the overlay.

If what you were hoping for is a comm package that would run right out of
the box, there is no hope.  The Z-System environment does not have any
information about the modem ports, and there is no BIOS standard for
supporting them as in MS-DOS.

There is a cute tool that Bruce Morgen invented and I elaborated on to allow
MEX and MEX-Plus (which internally looks a bit like Z-System in so far as it
allows multiple commands on a line) to shell a command out to the operating
system and then return automatically to MEX where it left off.  This is
called MEX2Z or MEX+2Z and should be on Z-Nodes (and perhaps on SIMTEL20).

Hope this helps a little...

-- Jay Sage